Solo travel isn’t just about seeing new places—it’s about meeting yourself without the noise of expectations. For women, it can be an act of rebellion, self-trust, and profound growth. Here’s why going alone might be the best journey you ever take.
I Am Capable—Far More Than I Thought
I did my first solo trip when I was in 8th grade. That too an international trip across different countries and continents. What started out as, “Oh God, how will I manage?” ended up as being the biggest confidence-booster of my life. In the day of no cell phones, internet, or social media, I was able to safely travel across three continents. I liked being in charge and the feeling of freedom. The trip became a huge learning experience. It also showed me how deeply my parents trusted me on various levels.
Discomfort Is a Portal
Traveling alone as a woman can help you rediscover the real you: I am extremely enterprising and don’t get hassled easily. The missed flights. The wrong turns. The natural disasters. These aren’t failures—they are invitations to grow. Solo travel forced me to sit with discomfort instead of outsourcing it to my husband. I learned to breathe through anxious reactions and respond instead of reacting.
In the summer of 2024, after speaking at a conference in Arizona, on my way back the flight got canceled. At first the airline staff kept announcing delays, and then at the last minute they announced that the flight would only leave 24 hours later. Instead of calling up my husband (who would have been only too quick to book me on another flight back home), I managed to get the airline to arrange for my transportation and pay for my hotel stay and as a result NOT lose any money.
When I return home from a solo trip, I feel refreshed, grateful, empowered, liberated, and confident.
I Don’t Have to Fit into Anyone’s Narrative
My professional life involves all my energy flowing outward. My world, on some days, feels tight and noisy—emails, expectations, social obligations, compassion fatigue, deadlines, and the constant performance of life. Even in my personal chapter, I am a compulsive peacekeeper and caretaker of other’s needs as well as emotions, which means depletion, is inevitable.
When you’re alone in a new place, you’re free to just be. No roles to play, no history to explain. I rediscover forgotten parts of myself and meet new ones. I am not someone’s daughter, wife, coach, professor, doctor, friend, or colleague—I am just me. And that is enough.
The Difference between Being Alone and Being Lonely
Solo travel has shown me the difference between being alone and being lonely. One is absence. The other is presence. I recently did a solo trip to Philadelphia and fell in love with the city and its food. I have traveled to Philly before with my husband as well as my girlfriends. But on this trip, I noticed how I showed up when no one was watching.
I walked 8 miles daily, explored historical sites, and experienced the delicious food, meditated daily at a meditation center, read a lot, made friends with the hotel staff, and even got to spend time with a very close friend as well as hang out with a dear cousin over dinner. I love movement as much as I do stillness, and this trip reiterated that the balance between the two is quintessential for my mental wellbeing.
When I travel alone, I meet parts of myself I didn’t even know were still alive—playful, curious, brave, soft. One night in Philly, I ate ice cream for dinner because the Uber driver recommended it. I went to a Buddhist meditation center and spent an hour meditating with people whose names I never knew. I wrote ideas on napkins. I forgave people who’d never ask for it. I forgave myself for waiting so long to listen. I had a full conversation with a woman who spoke no English at a Taiwanese Buddhist temple.
My Inner Voice Gets Louder (and Wiser)
Solo travel can shift your perspective and transform your confidence levels. Perhaps the most profound gift was learning how to enjoy my own company. Without distractions, I faced my inner dialogue head-on. Some days were lonely, others liberating. But in the silence, I heard my own voice more clearly.
I have traveled to remote areas of Portugal by plane, trains, and buses to attend a writing retreat despite no knowledge of Portuguese. I was at a book launch in London and took the train to Paris to meet with a childhood friend for lunch. I knew how to navigate it all despite no familiarity with the local languages. Let’s be honest; traveling alone has made me more appreciative of my husband—there are things that he manages when we travel together, but I don’t always get to see it.
The World Is Kinder Than We Fear
Solo trips also mean I lose fear—be it strangers, unfamiliarity, new places etc. etc. It helps that I make friends very easily wherever I go. Solo travel taught me that I’m never truly alone. When I am open, I find community in cafés, on hiking trails, and in meditation/yoga centers as well as bookstores. I learned that vulnerability can be an invitation, not a weakness. Strangers became friends. Conversations with locals teach me more about humanity and authentic food than any guidebook ever could.
In 2010, I was stranded in Ireland when the volcanic ash in Iceland led to airport shutdowns. I met a writer at a writing retreat the week prior, and we became friends who went for long walks by the Irish countryside and discussed the world of writing. For that week of airport closure, she invited me to her home, offered me a place to stay (I was a stranger to her), cooked me meals, introduced me to her family, and gave me the space to write.
Coming Home to Myself
Solo travel isn’t just about seeing the world—I love doing that with my husband. But solo travel is about seeing myself more clearly. Solo travel isn’t a one-size-fits-all remedy, but for me, it is both a mirror and a map. It reminds me who I was before the world told me who to be. It shows me that strength and softness can coexist, that independence can be healing, and that sometimes, the best way to find your path is to walk it alone. To every woman who’s been told it’s unsafe or selfish to go solo—your journey is yours to define. The world is waiting. And more importantly, so are you.
